Introduction: Tooth mobility remains a widely observed clinical sign in periodontitis. Its increase may indicate periodontal tissue destruction, namely clinical attachment loss associated with bone destruction.
Aims & Objective: To assess tooth mobility using the perotest and to correlate clinical attachment loss, alveolar bone loss with increased periotest values.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study carried out in patients with periodontitis over a period of 6 months. Each study participant underwent a periodontal clinical examination performed by a dental surgeon previously calibrated on the use of mobility indices, probing method and periotest. Dental mobility was assessed first subjectively with the Miller index and then objectively with the periotest. The periodontal variables were: O'leary plaque index (PI), Ainamo and Bay bleeding on probing index (BoP), pocket depth (PP), and clinical attachment loss (CAL).
Results: A total of 176 teeth were selected from 57 patients with periodontitis. The mean pocket depth was 2.78 ± 1.31 mm, attachment loss was 5.41 ± 1.74 mm, and the crown-to-root ratio was 1.81. A statistically significant correlation was found between tooth mobility, pocket depth, attachment loss, and crown-to-root ratio, with Pearson coefficients of 0.406, 0.472, and 0.652, respectively. Bone loss during periodontal disease has a significant impact on tooth mobility.
Conclusion: These results confirm the objectivity of the periotest in assessing tooth mobility in patients with periodontitis.
Keywords: Periodontitis, Tooth mobility, Periotest, Clinical attachment loss, Bone loss
